Anaya has horrible allergies to everything; plants, food, animals. They also cause her to have terrible acne, and she is just weary of going to school when she is feeling bad. Petra, who used to be her friend, is allergic to water. It's a far more debilitating allergy, but it doesn't make her look as bad as Anaya's allergies do. Seth doesn't have allergies, but he has struggled in foster care, finally ending up with the Antos family on their farm in Canada. When black, spiky, stubborn plants start taking over the island where the three live, they all notice odd things about the plants. Anaya's father works for the government dealing with plants, and notices how they are growing even where other things aren't. Petra gets caught out in the rain right before the plants start growing, and notices that the water does not make her skin react. She saves the water, and in a day or two, there are small plants growing in that water. Seth and Mr. Antos try to burn out the plants on the farm, only to realize that the resulting smoke is toxic. Not only that, but there is a field near school where the plants don't grow... but that turns out to be because the plants are growing underground and sneak up on animals and humans to drag them under to eat them! Everyone is in a panic, scientists are trying to find out where these plants have come from, and Anaya, Seth and Petra realize that they are all bound by an awful secret from their pasts. Will the world survive?